Top-ranked Chicago Morgan Park has a chance to lay claim to not only be the best team in Chicago, but also the state of Illinois. The Mustangs rolled to a convincing 70-49 semifinal victory over local fan favorite Bartonville Limestone in the first Class 3A state semifinal contest Friday at Carver Arena.

But if the Mustangs are to establish themselves they will need to get past Metro-East entrant Cahokia this afternoon. The fourth-ranked Comanches disposed of No. 2 Chicago Orr 56-46 in the other semifinal.

Morgan Park 70, Limestone 49

The local team, Limestone, was down by 10 points at the intermission, and then found itself in a huge hole quickly in the third quarter as Morgan Park struck quickly to open the final half.

The Mustangs extended their 28-18 halftime edge by scoring 12 straight points in the first 3:19 of the third quarter to grab a 40-18 advantage. Defense was a key factor for Morgan Park.

Limestone found the going tough. The Rockets’ first three points of the second half were all free throws. Their first field goal came with 1:11 left in the period but the Mustangs led 49-23.

“It was Morgan Park basketball,” head coach Nick Irvin said. “We live by a motto: ‘Pressure busts pipes’ and I thought the second half we came out and did that. We rebounded the basketball, we attacked them at both ends of the floor and we came out with the victory.”

Morgan Park’s strength came on attacking the interior. All six baskets in the run came in the paint area, including a dunk by Kyle Davis that made it 40-18.

“That third quarter, things were a little bit choppy,” Limestone head coach Eddie Mathews said. “Once we got past that first wave there were those guys hanging out by the basket.”

The game relatively close in the early going as there was just one tie, which was at 2-2 two minutes into play. The Mustangs did not trail in the game.

It looked easy enough for the Comanches. Once they got the lead, there was no looking back. Keenan Minor nailed a 3-pointer 32 seconds into the game and Cahokia had a 3-0 edge.

Page 2 of 2 - Orr, ranked second in the final AP poll, stayed close in the first quarter and did not really fall far behind throughout the game. The Spartans trailed by one twice in the first frame and was down 14-10 when it ended.

An 11-2 run for the Comanches put them in the driver’s seat.

Aiding the Cahokia cause was working the glass. The Comanches won the battle of the boards in dominating fashion, 44-23. Of those, 16 came on the offensive end.

“A couple of games in the regional and sectional we didn’t do too well in the first half rebounding so we really worked on rebounding and blocking out an attacking the ball,” Cahokia head coach Darian Nash said.

The Comanches built on their lead throughout the middle two periods, getting it as high as 14 points in the second quarter and 17 — at 36-21 after a Vincent Jackson Jr. deuce — in the third.

Orr made a comeback effort but got no closer than six, at 48-42, with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

“We knew it was going to be a battle going in,” Nash said. “We told the guys that defense wins championships and they went out and played pretty good defense. They made stops when we needed them and we took care of the ball.”

“We lost a tough battle tonight to a pretty good team,” Orr head coach Louis Adams said. “We really didn’t plat Spartan basketball but I take my hat off to those guys, they were the better team tonight.”